The Levee District

 New East Peoria downtown named The Levee District

After sifting through 264 possible names for the new East Peoria downtown then narrowing those to just six, the choice ended up being rather logical, Mayor Dave Mingus said.

Considering his city has for years relied on levees to keep flood waters from invading key parts of town, including downtown, commemorating that seemed important, the mayor said.

The new downtown will be named The Levee District.

 For decades portions of East Peoria have relied heavily on levees to prevent flooding to key structures, including the various Caterpillar Inc. plants near the Illinois River and the creek running through town.

That is why the name that has been chosen for the city's new downtown area is "particularly fitting," said East Peoria Mayor Dave Mingus.

The name, The Levee District, was selected just before the end of the year from among 264 names submitted during a public contest that lasted about a year. Mingus said the submissions were narrowed to six and then a consensus of the City Council selected The Levee District as the name of the 88-acre site previous called the New Downtown.

That came after the name was tested with various groups and individuals to gauge reactions, the mayor said.

The City Council will officially acknowledge the name as well as the person who submitted, Don Taylor of East Peoria, at its Jan. 15 meeting.

"You know, levees have been protecting that area for many, many years, designed to prevent flooding in key areas of town. It really seemed like the most logical name," Mingus said.

After that a group of Bradley University art students developed the logo that will be used and placed on signage around the area.

"It was unbelievable the number of names that were submitted for this project. Some were obviously not right, but there were some really good ones. And a lot ofr people submitted multiple names. It was not an easy decision," Mingus said.

The city originally planned to call the area the Peoria Area Technology Park before deciding to allow the public make submissions. That also was before the area was to be dominated by retail.  

The other finalists were:

• The EPICenter, with EPI referring to East Peoria Illinois
• EPIC (East Peoria Illinois City)
• The DEPOT (Downtown East Peoria of Today)
• The Renaissance Depot
• The Commons

"Any one of those would have been good, of course, but I think the Levee District was a favorite from early on," Mingus said.

The Levee District construction continues with the spring expected to be a busy time of new openings, including the new Target Supercenter, Gordmans and other new retail as well as the new Holiday Inn and a new Hometown Bank building and offices.

Later, the new Fondulac Library and new City Hall will be completed, as will a Caterpillar Inc. museum to honor the factories that once stood on the site and dominated East Peoria.

The first to open was the 150,000 square-foot Costco, which was completed and opened in November in time for holiday shopping.

The road work for The Levee District, including the roundabout that is meant to move traffic more smoothly around the area, was finished earlier in the fall.

Mingus said naming the Levee District is causing renewed excitement about the area, especially as the new stores are starting now to hire for their openings.

All told, there will be more than 500,000 square feet of new retail in the Levee District, including the 133,000 square-foot Target, the 50,000 square-foot Gorman's, and an 11,000 square-foot ULTA, a beauty products retailer.

There are two 25,000 square-foot retail spaces to be leased between Target and Gordman's.

Other committed tenants include Ross Dress For Less and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers.

Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian. He can be reached at 692-7880 or editor@thepeorian.com

Barn II set to open 2013 season

Dinner theater season will include a premier followed by a couple classics and musicals 

Conklin's Barn II Dinner Theatre is hauling out a couple classic comedies during the 2013 season, including "Harvey" and "The Odd Couple, Female Version.

The season will also include a couple musicals.

The opener, however, will be the regional premiere of "Beer for Breakfast," a comedy written by a Chicago native. IT opens Jan. 10 at the dinner theatre in Goodfield.

Beer for breakfast may not seem like a big deal in some countries, such as Germany or Ireland, where some people reportedly pour beer on their cereal.

But in this country beer for breakfast usually means party time and that includes the newest production at Conklin's Barn II Dinner Theatre in Goodfield.

"Beer for Breakfast," the new adult comedy by Sean Grennan, makes its regional premiere at the Barn beginning Jan. 10. The seven-week run continues each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon through Feb. 24.

It is the opening show of Conklin's 2013 season that includes a couple musicals as well as a couple classic comedies, "Harvey" and "The Odd Couple."

"Beer for Breakfast" stars Bob Lane Jr., Mary Simon, Pat Gaik and Dan Challacombe. Simon directed the show and April Wyant designed the set.

 "Beer for Breakfast" debuted at the American Heartland Theatre in Kansas City during 2012.

"The Barn is very pleased to present the second production of this new show. 'Beer for Breakfast' is the story of what happens when four high school buddies reunite in a rural cabin for a guys weekend of bad food, loud music, beer and general debauchery," said a news release from the theatre.

"They're all set to party like it's 1979, only to have one of the guys' wives show up instead of her husband! The weekend turns into an outrageous all-out battle of the sexes to determine which is the superior gender. Will men prove superior? Will love triumph or will old grudges win? And finally, perhaps most importantly, if Doritos are made of corn, why can't they be considered a serving of vegetables?"
  
Sean Grennan, the playwright, is a former Chicago area actor and author now based in New York City who has written several comedies and musicals. Coincidentally, he is the brother-in-law of actor/author Paul Slade Smith, author of "Unnecessary Farce," which had one of its earliest productions at the Barn, and which will be reprised in the second slot of 2013, beginning Feb. 28.(Photo courtesy of Conklin's Barn II) The cast of "Beer for Breakfast," the opening show of Conklin's Barn II Dinner Theatre 2013 season, includes Mary Simon in the back and in front, from left, Pat Gaik, Bon Lane Jr. and Dan Challacombe.
 
Conklin's Barn II is known for its buffet that for evening performances includes four main entrees, featuring prime rib and fried chicken, with salad, homemade soup and cheese spread, and a choice of four homemade desserts.  Prices for dinner and show are $33.00 on Thursday evening, $35.00 on Friday evening and Sunday brunch, and $37.00 on Saturday evening, including tax. The Valentine's Day performance on Thursday, Feb. 14 is priced at $40 per person for dinner and show. No coupons, vouchers, gift certificates or Spotlighter discount cards are valid on Valentine's day.

No advance payment is required.  For reservations, call the box office at (309) 965-2545.  For more information, visit the Barn on the internet at www.barn2.com.
 
The rest of the Barn II's 2013 season, after "Beer for Breakfast," will be:

• "Unnecessary Farce" by Paul Slade Smith, opening Feb. 28.

"The setting of this hilarious new play is two adjoining rooms in an economy motel where two inexperienced police officers have been sent to videotape a meeting between the local Mayor and the town's accountant, with the aim of uncovering an embezzlement scheme. Things begin to unravel when the Mayor runs into one of the officers in the lobby and we discover that the other officer is having an affair with the accountant. The Mayor's nervous security guard reveals that the embezzled money is a plot by the Scottish Mafia and that 'the Highland Hit Man' is on the way! The twists and turns will keep you laughing until the final moments.

The show stars Bob Lane Jr., Mary Simon and Pat Gaik and opens a seven-week run on Feb. 28, continuing through April 14.

• "Out of Order" by Ray Cooney, opening April 18.

"Senator Richard Willey is back in action in this hilarious sequel to the hit farce "Two Into One". This time the Senator, played by Bob Lane Jr., is checking into the Capital Hill hotel with the intention of having a tryst with secretary Jane Worthington, but when they discover a body stuck in the hotel room window all plans fly out the window and the Senator must call once more upon his brow-beaten personal assistant, George Pigden to try to save the day. Naturally, however, he makes things worse for everyone but the audience, who will reel with laughter as George and Senator Willey go into a tap dance of cover-ups to try to escape unscathed."
  
The seven-week run opens April 18 and continues through June 2.

• "Life Could be a Dream!" by Roger Bean, opening June 6.

"SH-BOOM! Meet the Crooning Crabcakes, four guys with a dream of making it to the big time! They enter the Big Whopper Radio contest to win their chance at fame, but trouble comes in the form of Lois, a former classmate who arrives to put some polish on the group but who also broke loveable Eugene's heart years before. While Eugene falls apart, Denny, Wally and Skip fall in love — and hilarious heartaches ensue! Featuring the songs "Earth Angel," "Unchained Melody," "Only You," and 20 more doo-wop hits, "Life Could Be a Dream" will leave you laughing, singing and cheering.

Starring Dan and Tamra Challacombe, Pat Gaik, Chad Kirvan and Dave Windsor, the show runs for six weeks only through July 14.

• "The Odd Couple (Female Version)" by Neil Simon, opening July 18.

"Unger and Madison are at it again! Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in Neil Simon's hilarious contemporary comic classic: the female version of The Odd Couple. Instead of the poker party that begins the original version, Ms. Madison has invited the girls over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit. The Pidgeon sisters have been replaced by the two Constanzuela brothers. But the hilarity remains the same. And in the expert hands of our own Mary Simon and Peoria legend Lana Warner, it's a guaranteed evening full of laughs."

The six-week run is July 18 through Aug. 25.

• "Greater Tuna" by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, opening Aug. 29.

"What do Arles Struvie, Thurston Wheelis, Aunt Pearl, Petey Fisk, Phineas Blye and Rev. Spikes have in common? In this hilarious send-up of small town morals and mores, they are all among the upstanding citizens of Tuna, Texas' third smallest town. The long-running, Off-Broadway hit features two of your favorite Barn actors — Dan Challacombe and Pat Gaik — creating the entire population of Tuna in a tour de farce of quick change artistry, changing costumes and characterizations faster than a jack rabbit runs from a coyote. Two actors, twenty characters and a barrel of laughs."

This show is five weeks only, Aug. 29 through Sept. 29.

• "Harvey" by Mary Chase, opening Oct. 3.

"When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a six-and-a-half-foot rabbit, to guests at a society party, his sister Veta has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate! She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family from future embarrassment. Problems arise, however, when Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the verge of lunacy and the doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood. When Elwood shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, all heck breaks loose and complications fly fast and furious right up to the surprising, heartwarming conclusion." 

The classic comedy, starring Bob Lane Jr. and Mary Simon, runs from Oct. 3 to Nov. 10.

• "Deck the Halls!" opening Nov. 14.

"Haul out the holly, it's time for another all-new edition of our annual revue of holiday music, comedy and hilarious audience participation that will put you in the holly jolly spirit throughout the season. Our talented cast of Christmas Crazies will have you tapping your toes, laughing out loud and maybe even get you up on stage to join in the fun directly! This is our most popular show of the year and seats always fill up quickly! Book early for this perfect outing for family, friends and company parties! Deck the Halls will be a guaranteed good time for all."

The seven-week run is Nov. 14 through Dec. 31.

More fiscal cliffs await

Chamber of Commerce leadership not optimistic about fiscal integrity at state or federal levels 

Leaders from the U.S. and Illinois Chambers of Commerce don't sound  very optimistic these days about federal or state fiscal problems getting resolved soon. 

Speaking Monday to Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce members during a local panel discussion, those leaders said there are more fiscal cliffs in the offing that Congress and the Illinois General Assembly must come to grips with.

Whether they were talking about the state or federal government, Doug Whitley and Cholly Smith expressed little optimism that the fiscal woes besetting each will be corrected soon.

Whitley, CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and Smith, manager of the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Monday there hasn't been enough movement on the fiscal issues to lead them to feel optimistic.

Speaking to a couple dozen members of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce during a panel discussion titled "Elections and Fiscal Cliff: Now What?", Whitley and Smith any feelings of relief brought by agreements such as the one that avoided the so-called Fiscal Cliff are tempered by the realization of cliffs still ahead.

"From our perspective, we are happy something got done in Congress last week and we know it could have been a lot worse," Smith said.

However, he added, "There are important issues being held hostage by our fiscal problems. We are preparing for the worst but hoping for the best." That after reminding his audience that the federal debt ceiling will be hit by mid-February and that sequestration — in this case, the automatic start of spending cuts to trim the federal deficit — will kick in March 1 without a fix.

Also, the spending authority that is normally good for a year when a new federal budget is approved expires March 27, six months ahead of the start of the next fiscal year, because of Congressional action just ahead of Fiscal Year 2013, which began Oct. 1, 2012.

Other key federal issues yet to be resolved, Smith said, include tax reform and fixing entitlements, which he said are still heading toward insolvency despite years of chatter about them in Washington.

Smith said there are many issues being thrown into the Congressional mixing pot and that is causing uncertainty. "When you have uncertainty, people are hesitant to invest," he said.

He said non-traditional entities will need to step into the fray to get some issues fixed. Noting corporate tax rates as an example, to get reform accomplished will take "getting corporations and small businesses singing from the same sheet music."

On the state level, Whitley told the audience the issues facing the Illinois General Assembly have changed very little the last two years. Chief among them, he said, is "fiscal integrity," where progress has been so small "it hasn't even moved the needle."

Pensions for public employees remain the key hurdle and Whitley said Gov. Pat Quinn has at least tried to get discussions going toward a resolution. However, he noted, not enough has happened vote in the General Assembly before Wednesday, when the new General Assembly is sworn in. "Then we have to start all over again," he said.

Whitley said he believes every legislator, including the new ones taking office on Wednesday, realizes the importance of pension reform to the state's fiscal well being. "But all we get proposed are incremental changes. We need bold changes," he said.

During a question-and-answer session with the audience, Whitley explained that the pension problem occurred because the state had, for decades, underfunded the employer's portion of the public employee pension plan. "In the private sector you go to jail for that," he noted.

As the Chamber of Commerce — whether at the federal, state or local level — advocates for its business members, Whitley cautioned that the business community is still in the General Assembly's crosshairs when it discusses ways to raise state revenues.

He stopped short of calling on the Illinois General Assembly to make "a bold move" and push toward making Illinois a "right-to-work" state, but Whitley said the fact both Indiana and Michigan have done that has not been lost on Illinois leaders.

Whitley took the Democrat-controlled General Assembly to task when he said spending must be controlled for fiscal reform to happen. "A big issue is whether the Democrats can control spending," he said.

He added he believes Gov. Quinn, also a Democrat, will work to better control spending "because I think he wants to run for re-election. So he will want to show some fiscal discipline."

Quinn's term expires in January 2015, but the governor has not announced his intentions for the 2014 election.

Dale Risinger, a retired Illinois state senator who attended the meeting, noted that Illinois has more people on public aid than it does working. "We have to do something to create stability before we can know what the needs of the state are," he said.

Roberta Parks, president of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, said before the panel discussion that the chamber plans to continue to enhance its government affairs activities. "It is important for the business community to get an in-depth look at what is happening at the state and federal level because it has a significant impact on them," she said.

Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian. He can be reached at 692-7880 or editor@thepeorian.com 

Yellow Dot program can save lives

Information critical in 'golden hour' of treatment

The Yellow Dot program rolled out for 2012 by the Illinois Department of Transportation focused on seniors because they often have health issues that first responders need to know in case of an accident.

But that kind of information can be critical regardless of the age of an accident victim, so IDOT is expanding the program for all drivers and passengers.

It's not just your grandpa's Yellow Dot anymore.

The Illinois Department of Transportation and other agencies, including the Peoria City/County Health Department, are urging all drivers to participate in the state's Yellow Dot Program in 2013 so that more lives can possibly be saved.

The program was rolled out at the start of 2012 and was aimed at seniors but the state decided to push forward with getting drivers of all ages to participate and protect themselves as well as their passengers, said Diana Scott, public information officer for the City/County Health Department.

"IDOT wanted to do it in stages so not to overwhelm and they decided to start with senior because they often have health problems that first responders should know about," Scott said.

The program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, started in Connecticut in 2002 and is growing across the nation, asks car owners to fill out information cards on anybody who frequently drives or rides in each car. That would include children in young families or grandparents who don't drive themselves, Scott said.

"Because the first hour following an injury is the most crucial, the Yellow Dot program provides essential personal health information to emergency responders in order to promptly care for a crash victim. This 'Golden Hour' is critical in the treatment of crash victims, and the medical information provided through the program could be a lifesaver," a news release from IDOT said.

"Having access to this information allows first responders to make important decisions regarding emergency treatment and can better prepare emergency hospital staff in the receiving room," the release said.  

The information on the card includes basic information about the person, such as name and age and emergency contacts, but it also allows space for physician names, any and all medical conditions, medications the person uses or any allergies, recent surgeries and the like. That is all information that can be valuable to first responders in case of an accident that leaves the driver and passengers unable to communicate verbally.

There also is a place to attach photographs of the person on the card so responders, such as police and emergency medical personnel, can match a card to a specific person in the car, which Scott said also can be critical when there may not be any other way of knowing which card is for which person.

"With safety as a major public health issue, this life-saving traffic initiative provides first responders with critical information to improve emergency care for persons involved in vehicle crashes. Because the first hour following an injury is the most crucial, the Yellow Dot program assures that essential personal health information is available in order to provide prompt and appropriate care for a crash victim," Scott said.

After filling out the card or cards, they should be kept in the vehicle's glove box and the yellow dot sticker should be placed on the back window. That way first responders will know immediately to look for the information cards in the glove box.

The Peoria City/County Health Department, 2116 N. Sheridan Road, now has the cards and dots available for pickup, Scott said. Several other agencies have them, as well, she added, including the Methodist Encore! Program and the OSF health program at the RiverPlex.

"We, of course, want to support any health care initiatives that can save lives. We believe this one is very important because it can literally save a life by having that information available in the first hour of treatment," Scott said.

"This really is quick and simple and can save a life."

For more information on the Illinois Yellow Dot program, including other places to get the Yellow Dot packet, visit the website www.yellowdotillinois.org.

Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian. He can be reached at 692-7880 or editor@thepeorian.com